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I 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  PAPERS 


OF    THE 


American  Museum  of  Natural 
History. 


Vol.  I,  Part  II. 


SOME  PROTECTIVE  DESIGNS  OF  THE  DAKOTA. 

BY 

CLARK  WISSLER. 


NEW  YORK : 

Published  by  Order  of  the  Trustees. 
February,    1907. 


American   Museum  of  Natural   Histoi 


PUBLICATIONS   IN  ANTHROPOLOGY. 


The  results  of  research  conducted  by  the  Anthropological  staff  of  the  Mu 
unless  otherwise  provided  for,  are  published  in  a  series  of  octavo  volumes  of  i 
350  pages  each,  issued  in  parts  at  irregular  intervals,  entitled  Anthropological  Papers 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.  The  Anthropological  work  of  the 
Museum  is  organized  under  two  heads.  The  Department  of  Ethnology  exercises 
curatorial  functions  in  ethnography,  ethnology  and  physical  anthropology  and  in 
all  archaeology  except  that  pertaining  to  the  present  confines  of  Mexico  and  the 
Central  American  States  which  has  been  delegated  to  a  distinct  department,  entitled 
the  Department  of  Archaeology.  This  series  of  publications  aims  to  give  the  results 
of  field-work  conducted  by  the  above  departments,  supplemented  by  the  study  of 
collections  in  the  Museum.  The  editorial  responsibilities  are  administered  by  the 
Curator  of  the  Depaitment  of  Ethnology. 

The  following  are  on  sale  at  the  Museum  at  the  prices  stated . 

Vol.  I.  Part  I.  Technique  of  some  South  American  Feather-work.  By  Charles 
W.  Mead.  Pp.  1-18,  Plates  I-IV,  and  14  text  figures.  January . 
1907.  Price,  $0.25. 

Part  II.  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  By  Clark  WKsler. 
Pp.  19-54,  Plates  V-VII,  and  26  text  figures,  February,  1907. 
Price,  $0.50. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  PAPERS 


OF    THE 


American  Museum  of  Natural 
History. 


Vol.  I,  Part  II. 


SOME  PROTECTIVE  DESIGNS  OF  THE  DAKOTA. 

BY 

CLARK  WISSLER. 


NEW  YORK : 

Published  by  Order  of  the  Trustees. 
February,    1907. 


D  I  W 


DECORATWB 
ART 


' 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL  PAPERS 


OF    THE 

AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

VOL.   I,     PART   II. 

SOME   PROTECTIVE   DESIGNS   OF  THE   DAKOTA, 

By   CLARK   WISSLER. 

CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION  ..........  .21 

SHIELD-DESIGNS 22 

GHOST-DANCE   DESIGNS  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .31 

THE  HOOP        ....  40 

THE  WHIRLWIND      ....  .......       43 

THE  THUNDER  .  ....       46 

THE  SPIDER      ....  48 

CONCLUSION      ...  52 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PLATES. 

V.     Model  of  a  Shield,  Museum  No.  50-2929.     Diameter,  39  cm. 
VI.     Shield-design  on  a  Cape,  Museum  No.  50-3102.     Width  of  cape,  178  cm. 
VII.     Model  of  a  Shield,  Museum  No.  50-5467.     Diameter,  46  cm. 


TEXT  FIGURES. 

PAGE 

1.  Shield-cover  with  Design        .  ....       24 

2.  Shield-design,  from  a  Drawing  by  a  Native 25 

3.  Drawing,  by  a  Native,  of  a  Shield-cover 26 

4.  Shield-design,  from  a  Drawing  by  a  Native 26 

5.  Spider-design  for  a  Shield,  from  a  Drawing  by  a  Native   .         .         .         .27 

6.  Shield-design,  from  a  Drawing  by  the  Man  who  dreamed  of  it  .         .       28 

19 

M     /I  QQ5* 


20,  Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I. 


'.X'  'Shield-design  representing  a  Thunderstorm,  from  a  Drawing  by  a  Native       2& 

1    8.'  'Model  of  a  Shield  with  Pictographic  Design      ......       29 

9.  Design  on  Sioux  Shield  captured  by  a  Fox  Indian  ..'...       30 

10.  Front  of  a  Ghost-dance  Garment 32 

11.  Back  of  Garment  shown  in  Fig.  10    .          .          .          .         .         .         .         .33 

12.  Designs  on  the  Front  of  Ghost-dance  Garment  .....       36 

13.  Designs  on  the  Back  of  Garment  shown  in  Fig.  12    .         .          .          .          .37 

14.  Front  of  a  Ghost-dance  Garment  bearing  Dragon-fly  Design  ...       38 

15.  Back  of  Garment  shown  in  Fig.  14     .         .          .         .         .          .         .          .39 

16.  Circular  Design  upon  a  Shirt      .          .         .          .         .          .         .          .         .41 

17.  Sketch,  by  a  Native,  of  an  Elk-mystery  Dancer  carrying  a  Hoop  with  a 

Mirror  in  the  Centre       ......          ....       42 

18.  Engraved  Metal  Cross         ..........       44 

19.  Engraved  Bone  Object       ..........       45 

20.  Whirlwind  Design,  from  the  Handle  of  a  Club  .  ...       46 

21.  Whirlwind  Design,  from  a  Popgun    ........       46 

22.  Whistle,  of  Bone        . 47 

23.  Design  of  a  Spider-web 49 

24.  Sketch  of  a  Robe  for  the  Medicine-bow  Owner          .          .         .         .         .51 

25.  Design  on  a  Metal  Belt-ornament     .          .  .  .....       52 

26.  Design  of  the  Spider-web  on  a  Straight  Pipe 52 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  decorative  art  of  the  Dakota  has  been  treated  in  a  preceding  paper, 
in  which  brief  mention  was  made  of  religious  art,  or  that  art  in  which  there 
was  a  definite,  unmistakable  motive  on  the  part  of  the  artist  to  represent 
mythical  or  philosophical  ideas.  In  this  more  serious  art,  a  large  number 
of  designs  may  be  characterized  as  "protective  designs,"  because  their 
presence  or  possession  is  in  part  a  protection.  The  idea  in  a  protective 
design  seems  to  be  a  symbolical  appeal  to  the  source  or  concrete  manifes 
tation  of  a  protective  power.  It  is  not  easy  to  get  the  point  of  view  and 
the  spirit  of  the  faith  that  make  these  designs  significant,  but  from  the 
detailed  explanations  of  them  some  general  idea  can  be  formed.  The 
descriptions  given  in  this  paper  are  based  upon  the  statements  of  Indians, 
in  most  cases  the  executers  of  the  designs.  The  attitude  of  the  reader 
toward  such  a  study  as  this  is  often  that  of  concluding  that  the  points  of 
view  set  forth  by  a  writer  are  universal  in  the  tribe.  This  leads  to  a  great 
deal  of  superficial  criticism.  In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  any  rejection 
of  such  study  because  one  or  two  or  several  Indians  deny  all  knowledge  of 
some  or  all  of  the  specific  native  accounts  upon  which  conclusions  are 
based,  is  absurd.  We  might  as  well  test  the  artistic  sense  of  a  city  by  call 
ing  in  one  or  two  persons  from  the  street.  As  a  case  in  point,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  remarks  of  J.  Owen  Dorsey  on  the  authenticity  of  Bush- 
otter's  Double  Woman.1  A  great  deal  of  the  information  received  from 
Indians  relative  to  religion  is  largely  individual,  and  every  ethnological 
field-worker  must  take  the  best  of  his  material  from  the  brightest  men  of 
a  tribe.  The  object  of  this  study  has  been  to  bring  together  ideas  expressed 
by  various  individuals  more  or  less  eminent  among  their  people,  because 
all  of  these  individual  conceptions  seem  to  have  much  in  common.  The 
data  were  secured  by  the  writer  when  on  Museum  expeditions  to  the  Teton 
and  Yankton  divisions  of  the  Dakota. 

1   Dorsey  (Eleventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.  480). 

21 


22  Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


SHIELD-DESIGNS. 

The  circular  shield  was  distributed  over  a  large  part  of  North  America. 
A  conspicuous  part  of  the  arms  of  Mexican  warriors  was  "the  round,  small 
'target'  worn  by  the  'brave'  on  his  left  arm,  and  made  of  canes  netted 
together  and  interwoven  with  cotton  'twofold,'  covered  on  the  outside  with 
gilded  boards  and  with  feathers,  and  so  strong  that  a  hard  cross-bow  shot 
could  alone  penetrate  them;"1  but  "merely  ornamental  shields  [were 
also]  used  and  carried  by  warriors  and  chiefs  on  festive  occasions  only."5 

According  to  the  same  author,  in  Pre-Columbian  times  some  of  the 
Pueblo  Indians  used  a  thick  disk  of  buffalo-hide  as  a  shield.  On  the 
Plains,  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Saskatchewan,  the  circular  shield  of 
buffalo-hide  was,  until  the  extinction  of  the  buffalo,  a  part  of  the  regalia 
of  every  warrior.  These  shields  usually  bore  symbolic  designs.  In  many 
cases  the  designs  were  painted  upon  the  rawhide  itself,  and  protected  by 
a  buckskin  cover;  while  in  other  cases  the  designs  were  painted  upon 
the  cover.  Practically  no  shields  of  buffalo-hide  are  to  be  found  in  the 
hands  of  the  surviving  Dakota;  but  in  social  and  religious  ceremonies, 
models  or  shield-covers  of  buckskin  or  cloth,  upon  which  are  painted  the 
designs  formerly  placed  on  shields,  are  often  used.  For  purposes  of  study 
the  writer  secured  such  models  of  shields,  with  explanations  of  the  designs 
and  with  other  shield-lore,  from  persons  who  formerly  owned  buffalo-hide 
shields. 

When  the  enemies  of  the  Dakota  were  armed  with  native  weapons, 
the  shield  had  some  value  in  itself,  because  few  arrows  could  get  through 
it,  and  it  was  of  sufficient  strength  to  ward  off  a  blow  from  a  club  or  an 
axe;  but  even  at  that  time  the  designs  and  medicine  objects  tied  to  the 
shield  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  of  greater  importance  than  the  me 
chanical  properties  of  the  shield  itself.  It  was  the  powTer  represented  by 
the  design  to  which  the  owner  of  the  shield  looked  for  protection.  Natu 
rally,  with  the  introduction  of  fire-arms,  shields  ceased  to  have  a  real 
protective  value;  but  their  designs  were  still  looked  upon  as  capable  of 
affording  protection  against  evil.  According  to  the  statements  of  some  old 
men  who  still  have  faith  in  protective  designs,  the  ancient  shield  mani 
fested  its  power  upon  the  mind  of  the  enemy  by  influencing  them  to  shoot 
at  the  shield  rather  than  at  the  exposed  parts  of  the  body  of  its  bearer. 
But  when  fire-arms  were  introduced,  experience  demonstrated  that  the 
shield  was  no  longer  a  desirable  object  in  battle,  because  the  same  influence 

'•   Bandelier  (Reports  of  the  Peabody  Museum,  Vol.  II,  p.  109). 
-  Bandelier,  op.  c-it.,  p.  108. 


1907.]  Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  23 

that  drew  arrows  to  it  drew  bullets  also,  and  in  this  case  with  fatal  results: 
From  this  they  concluded  that  guns  represented  a  mystic  power  superior 
to  that  of  shield-designs,  but  that  the  latter  were  still  efficacious,  except 
where  so  overpowered. 

This  explanation  is  interesting,  because  these  men  seem  to  have  grasped 
the  idea  that  the  shield,  being  a  conspicuous  object,  would  attract  the 
attention  and  thus  the  aim  of  the  enemy;  but  they  confused  this  pyscho- 
logical  explanation  of  the  observed  facts  with  a  mystic  conception  that  the 
magic  power  of  the  design  upon  the  shield  was  the  cause  or  force  that 
reached  out  and  lay  hold  of  the  attention  of  the  enemy.  Yet  the  introduc 
tion  of  fire-arms  did  not  relegate  the  shield  to  oblivion;  and  shield-designs 
are  still  cherished  by  men  of  the  olden  time,  because  they  represent  a  kind 
of  individual  totem  or  protective  power. 

The  following  descriptions  of  shield-designs  are  given  with  the  inter 
pretations  of  their  owners. 

A  shield-cover  decorated  with  feathers,  bearing  a  design  used  by  a  chief 
on  ceremonial  occasions,  and  said  by  him  to  be  the  copy  of  a  shield  carried 
in  his  youth,  is  shown  in  Plate  v.  The  black  border  on  top  of  the  shield 
takes  the  form  of  the  new  moon,  which  it  represents.  In  the  centre  of  the 
shield  is  a  well  executed  drawing  of  an  Indian  on  horseback.  The  horse  is 
in  blue,  with  zigzag  black  lines  extending  down  the  legs.  The  blue  color  of 
the  horse  indicates  his  connection  with  the  thunder,  or  the  powers  of  the  sky. 
The  background  of  the  shield  is  in  yellow,  but  the  lower  part  has  been 
worked  over  with  green.  Symmetrically  arranged  around  the  mounted 
figure  are  four  circles  of  purplish  color,  representing  a  phenomenon  observed 
in  the  sky,  which  seems  to  have  been  either  the  halo  of  the  sun,  or  the  phe 
nomenon  that  passes  under  the  name  of  "sun-dogs."  From  the  description 
of  the  owrner  of  the  shield,  it  appears  that  these  four  circles  were  associated 
in  his  mind  with  the  medicine-hoop.  He  stated  that  this  design  as  a  whole 
was  the  representation  of  what  he  saw  in  a  dream;  that  the  moon  with  its 
dark  color  was  drawn  to  represent  the  night,  because  that  was  the  time 
when  he  had  this  experience;  and  that  in  the  dream  he  saw  a  horse  and 
rider  appear  in  the  sky  surrounded  by  the  four  circular  objects,  as  indicated 
upon  the  shield.  It  appears  from  his  explanation,  that  the  association  of 
the  rings  with  the  medicine-hoop  was  his  own  individual  interpretation  of 
the  significance  of  his  dream.  In  the  dream  he  could  see  a  shield  associated 
with  these  objects  as  they  would  appear  in  reality;  but  in  the  design  he 
attempted  to  convey  an  idea  of  what  he  saw  in  conformity  with  the  con 
ventional  modes  of  representative  art  practised  by  his  tribe. 

Another  shield-cover  (Fig.   1)  bears  a  bird-design,  representing  to  the 
owner  the  osprey  (?).     One  half  of  the  background  of  this  shield  is  in  yel- 


f+  A  T  T  \ft "\ W XTT  ft 


24 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


low;  the  other  half,  in  light  green.1  These  two  colors  represent  the  appear 
ance  of  the  sky  at  sunrise;  the  yellow  corresponding  to  the  region  of  the 
dawn,  and  the  green  to  the  dark  sky  above.  The  four  stars  symmetrically 
arranged  are  colored  black  for  the  night,  yellow  for  the  dawn,  blue  for  the 
evening,  and  red  for  the  day;  or  in  other  words  the  whole  circle  is  repre 
sented.  The  design  of  the  bird  presents  some  interesting  details.  The 


Fig.  1  (50-2970).     Shield-cover  with  Design.     Diameter,  42  cm. 

lightning-symbols  represent  the  death-dealing  power  conferred  upon  the 
owner  of  such  a  shield-design  at  the  time  of  his  dream.  The  red  marks 
upon  the  breast  of  the  bird,  representing  the  national  emblem  of  the  United 


1  In  the  drawings,  colors  are  indicated  by  the  following  devices:  red,  by  horizontal  shading; 
yellow,  by  vertical  shading;  green,  by  left 'oblique  shading;  blue  or  purple,  by  right  oblique 
shading.  Black  and  white  have  their  conventional  qualities.  The.  drawings  Were  made  by 
Miss  R.  B.  Howe. 


1907.]  Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  25 

States,  were  interpreted  by  the  owner  as  symbolizing  such  death-dealing 
power  in  contending  with  soldiers.  The  peculiar  feature  upon  the  tail 
of  the  bird  represents  an  additional  experience,  and  was  added  to  the  shield 
about  the  year  1867,  after  a  successful  engagement  with  the  United  States 
troops,  in  which  the  owner  of  the  shield  participated.  According  to  his 
account,  the  design  on  the  tail  of  the  bird  is  the  conventional  symbol  of  the 
spider-web,  but  is  used  here  to  represent  an  experience  preceding  the  above 
engagement.  As  the  war-party  were  moving  forward,  they  saw  a  strange 
appearance  in  the  sky,  which  took  the  form  of  this  symbol.  The  sight  of 
it  caused  the  war-party  to  scatter;  and  the  interpretation  placed  upon  this 
by  the  owner  was,  that  its  manifestation  of  supernatural  power,  which  was 
to  be  conveyed  to  them,  would  cause  their  enemies  to  scatter  in  like  con 
fusion.  During  the  confusion  into  which  the  party,  fell,  the  stars  moved 
rapidly  through  the  sky  and  the  lightning 
flashed  in  all  directions.  This  is  repre 
sented  by  the  four  corners  of  the  design. 
At  the  top  of  the  shield  is  a  braid  of 
sweet-grass  and  a  small  buckskin  bag 
containing  medicines  of  a  supposed 
charm- value.  Before  going  into  battle, 
some  of  this  sweet-grass  was  to  be 
burnt,  and  ritualistic  songs  pertaining 
to  the  shield  were  to  be  sung.  This 
having  been  done,  the  shield  was  sup 
posed  to  protect  its  owner  from  his  ene 
mies.  Eight  feathers,  arranged  in  pairs,  Fig.  2.  Shield-design,  from  a  Drawing 

.  .  by  a  Native. 

are  attached  to  the  shield,  and  their  quills 

are  painted  to  correspond  to  the  parts  of  the  background  to  which  they  are 

attached. 

There  is  one  interesting  feature  connected  with  this  shield-design,  and 
that  is  the  fact  that  some  of  the  old  men  disapproved  of  the  owner  placing 
the  spider-web  design  upon  the  tail  of  the  birdi  because  it  was  a  mixing  of 
supernatural  manifestations.  The  incident  connected  with  this  design  was 
regarded  by  them  as  most  extraordinary,  and  as  having  been  worthy  of 
distinct  and  separate  representation.;'  According  to  the  accepted  modes 
of  interpretation,  this  experience  should  have  been  represented  upon  a  new 
shield. 

The  specimen  shown  in  Plate  vi  is  not  a  shield-cover,  but  was  neverthe 
less  spoken  of  as  a  shield;  and  the  design  upon  it  is  an  old  shield-design. 
The  specimen  is  a  cape  (made  of  cotton)  worn  around  the  shoulders  in  such 
a  way  that  the  design  could  be  seen  upon  the  back  of  the  wearer.  Here 


20 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


Fig.  3.     Drawing,  by  a  Native,  of  a  Shield-cover. 


are  represented  the  rainbow,  the  thunder-bird  (possessing  in  this  case 
characteristics  which  indicate  that  it  was  copied  from  the  national  emblem 
of  the  United  States),  the  new  and  full  moon,  and  the  stars.  It  will  be 

observed  that  the  stars  in  this 
case  are  four-pointed,  similar  to 
the  design  of  the  spider-web, 
and  they  are  regarded  by  the 
Indians  as  an  example  of  the 
old  original  method  of  repre 
senting  them. 

As  a  great  many  Indians  who 
formerly  owned  shields  do  not 
now  possess  shield-covers,  the 
writer  secured  drawings  made 
by  them  of  their  former  shields. 
Such  a  sketch  is  reproduced  in 
outline  (Fig.  2).  In  the  centre 

is  a  design  of  the  spider-web  filled  in  with  red.     The  ground  of  the  shield 

is  in  blue,  representing  the  sky.      Above  and  below  are  circular  areas  in 

yellow,  representing  clouds  or  heaven.      Lightning-symbols  in  red  connect 

the  yellow  cloud-symbols  with  the  four  corners  of  the  spider-web  design. 

As  a  final  suggestion  relative  to  this  interpretation,   the  informant  said, 

"The  spider  is  the  friend  of  the  thunder." 

The  manner  in  which  the  owner  secured  the  shield-design  represented  in 

Fig.  3  is  as  follows.     Once  when  a  war-party  of  which  he  was  a  member 

were  about  to  take  the  war-path, 

it  was  predicted  by  an  old  man 

that   he  would  be  killed  in  the 

first  battle.     Before  leaving  with 

the    party,   he  went   to  an   old 

medicine-man  for  help,  and  this 

man  made  him  a  shield  bearing 

the  design  described  below.   The 

bird   represented    is   the  hawk, 
-  flying  from  the  sky,  protected 

by  the   thunder  from  the  hail 
stones  that  fly  thick  and  fast 

about    him,  —  and    symbolizes 

the  manner  in  which  the  owner  of  the  shield  will  pass  safely  through  the 

hail  of  lead  from  the  enemy.     Four  pairs  of  hawk-feathers  are  arranged 

symmetrically  on  the  circumference  of  the  shield. 

In  the  shield-design  in  Fig.  4,  we  find  a  large  circular  area  in  the  centre 


Fig.  4.     Shield-design,  from  a  Drawing  by  a  Native. 


1907.]  Wisslcr,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  27 

painted  yellow  and  the  surrounding  portion  red.  Around  the  circumfer 
ence  of  the  yellow  portion  are  black  spots,  representing  tufts  of  short  crow- 
feathers.  Upon  the  original  shield,  across  the  top,  there  was  tied  the  skin 
of  a  weasel,  represented  in  the  drawing  by  a  pictograph  of  that  animal. 
Four  pairs  of  feathers  are  arranged  symmetrically  on  the  circumference  of 
this  design. 

The  design  represented  by  Fig.  5  is  rather  striking,  since  an  image  of  the 
spider  is  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  shield 
surrounded  by  a  circle  of  red,  through 
which  the  numerous  red  lines  radiate 
to  the  circumference  of  the  design. 
These  red  lines  represent  the  web  of 
the  spider.  One  end  of  a  string  is 
tied  to  the  mouth  of  the  spider,  with  an 
eagle-plume  at  the  other  end,  painted 
yellow.  Around  the  circumference  of 
the  design  is  a  wavy  blue  line,  repre 
senting  water.  The  owner  of  this  de 
sign  received  such  a  shield  when  a 

young   man,    and   Stated   that    he  never       FU?.  5.    Spider-design  for  a  Shield,  from  a 
fe  '  Drawing  by  a  Native. 

understood  why  the  medicine-man  who 

made  it  for  him  placed  the  blue  line  around  it,  and  for  that  reason  he  could 

not  explain  its  significance. 

The  design  represented  in  Fig.  6  was  dreamed  of  by  the  owner  himself, 
and  in  this  dream  he  was  presented  with  a  shield  bearing  a  design  similar 
to  the  sketch.  As  he  was  almost  blind,  the  sketch  is  very  crude.  In  it 
appear  again  the  thunder-bird,  the  stars,  the  yellow  clouds,  the  red  and 
blue  lightning,  the  new  moon,  and  the  bear.  It  was  claimed  that  the 
curved  double  line  at  the  bottom  represented  both  the  moon  and  the  light 
ning;  the  former  by  the  colors,  the  latter  by  its  form.  Another  interesting 
point  in  this  design  is  the  representation  of  an  eagle-feather  upon  the  head 
of  the  bear.  This  is  the  conventional  way  of  representing  a  supernatural 
bear  as  distinguished  from  a  real  bear.1  The  owner  of  this  shield-design 
claimed,  that,  while  he  did  not  now  and  had  not  for  years  carried  or  kept 
about  him  a  drawing  of  the  design,  he  felt  it  as  a  kind  of  magic  presence 
hovering  around  him,  shielding  him  from  harm.  He  stated,  further,  that, 
while  he  knew  that  other  men  used  the  symbols  represented  in  his  shield- 
design  as  the  signs  of  particular  powers  and  ideas,  he  himself  had  no  such 
interpretation;  for  in  the  dream  he  saw  nothing  more  than  a  shield  bearing 


1  For  an  illustration  see  Catlin,  North  American  Indians  (7th  ed.,  1848),  Plate  102. 


28 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


l,hese  designs,  and  received  no  instruction  or  information  as  to  their  signi 
ficance.  Their  protecting  power  to  him  lay  in  the  peculiar  supernatural 
presence  which  he  always  felt. 

The  shield-design  in  Fig.  7  represents  a  thunderstorm.  At  the  top, 
the  clouds  are  represented  in  blue.  Below  this,  falling  rain  is  represented 
by  short  irregular  lines,  and  the  lightning  and  thunder  by  zigzag  lines  ex- 


Fig.  7. 

Fig.  6.     Shield-design,  from  a  Drawing  by  the  Man  who  dreamed  of  it. 

Fig.  7.     Shield-design  representing  a  Thunderstorm,  from  a  Drawing  by  a  Native. 

tending  downward  from  the  clouds  on  a  background  of  clear  sky.  This 
design  originated  in  the  same  manner  as  did  the  preceding;  that  is,  a 
finished  shield  was  seen  in  a  dream. 

Plate  YII  is  the  reproduction  of  a  model  of  a  shield  made  of  shrunken 
bull-hide  covered  witli  buckskin.  It  was  collected  by  Dr.  J.  R.  Walker.  The 
design  is  somewhat  similar  to  the  preceding.  The  upper  part  is  painted 
in  blue  to  represent  the  clouds,  and  the  lower  part  in  bluish-green  to  rep 
resent  the  sky.  In  the  cloud-area  is  the  drawing  of  a  horse,  symbolizing 
a  dream-horse  (probably  the  thunder-horse).  The  thunder,  or  power,  is 
symbolized  by  red  zigzag  lines  extending  downward  from  the  cloud-area. 
An  eagle-feather  and  twelve  hawk-feathers  are  tied  to  a  small  buckskin 
bag  of  medicine,  fastened  to  the  shield  in  a  manner  suggesting  their  attach 
ment  to  th,e  mane  of  the  horse.  The  circumference  of  the  shield  is  deco 
rated  with  small  feathers,  and  four  pairs  of  eagle-feathers  are  also  arranged 
symmetrically  around  the  circumference. 

A  shield  (Fig.  8)  similar  to  the  preceding  represents  a  vision  in  which 
the  dreamer  was  apparently  supported  by  the  thunder-horse  in  a  contest 
with  the  mythical  turtle.  A  small  bag  of  medicine  and  a  pendant  eagle- 
plume  are  attached  to  the  shield,  as  in  the  previous  case.  Feathers  are 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota. 


29 


Fig.  8  (50-5456).     Model  of  a  Shield  with  Pictographic  Design.     Diameter,  47  cm. 


30 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Xatural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


again  arranged  in  four  pairs.     This  specimen  was  collected  by  Dr.  J.  R. 
Walker. 

In  the  Museum  collection  from  the  Sauk  and  Fox  Indians,  made  by 
Dr.  William  Jones,  is  a  shield  captured  from  the  Sioux,  at  the  time  of  the 
outbreak  of  1866,  by  a  Fox  in  the  employ  of  the  United  States  Govern 
ment.  The  design  was  painted  upon  the  rawhide,  but  is  nowT  almost  oblit 
erated.  Fig.  9  is  a  diagrammatic  restoration.  The  writer  saw  an  old 
buffalo-hide  shield  in  the  possession  of  an  Assiniboine,  at  Fort  Belknap, 
Montana.  The  design  was  painted  upon  buffalo-hide,  and  was  similar  to 
that  in  Fig.  9.  He  collected  also  from  the  Dakota  a  number  of  drawings 

representing  military  exploits.  While  twenty 
shields  are  represented  in  these  drawings, 
fourteen  of  them  bear  simple  circular  de 
signs,  as  shown  in  the  adjoining  figure. 
This  suggests  that  the  older  type  of  shield- 
decoration  made  use  of  simple  circular 
designs.  This  idea  was  supported  by  the 
testimony  of  a  number  of  old  men  who 
ought  to  be  competent  to  speak  upon  the 
subject.  Of  course,  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  image  of  the  thunder-bird,  so  common 
upon  modern  shield-designs,  should  not  have 
been  used  in  ancient  times;  and  the  writer 
wishes  to  be  understood  as  expressing  this  as  an  opinion  based  upon  indirect 
evidence. 

These  circular  designs  often  represented  the  sun,  other  heavenly  bodies, 
or  the  sky,  which  suggests  that  formerly  the  shield  as  a  whole  may  have 
been  considered  as  a  symbol  of  the  sun.  The  survivors  of  shield-using^ 
days  seemed  to  have  no  actual  knowledge  of  any  connection  between  the 
shield-form  and  the  sun,  but  usually  expressed  it  as  their  opinion  that  it 
represented  the  sun,  and  that  the  feathers  represented  the  sun's  rays.  This 
may  have  been  suggested  by  the  fact  that  eagle-feathers  were  sometimes 
arranged  in  a  half-circle  to  represent  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  that,  further 
more,  the  rays  of  the  sun  were  sometimes  spoken  of  as  feathers. 

!  Shield-designs  could  originate  only  in  dreams  and  visions,  and  were 
painted  by  the  person  experiencing  them,  who  prayed  and  sang  over  his 
work  to  give  the  shield  power.  Usually  but  four  shields  could  be  made 
from  a  single  dream:  to  make  a  great  number  was  sacrilege.  Among 
the  Blackfoot,  the  shield  was  often  accompanied  by  a  ritual  composed  of 
songs  and  prayers;  and  they  possessed  a  few  shields  with  such  important 
rituals  that  they  were  distinguished  from  the  others  as  "medicine-shields." 


Fig.  9  (50-3569).  Design  on  Sioux 
Shield  captured  by  a  Fox  Indian. 
Diameter,  42  cm. 


1907.]  Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  31 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  similar  condition  among  the  Dakota,  for  it 
was  often  said  that  medicine-shields  were  hung  outside  the  tepees,  upon 
tripods,  and  that  during  the  day  they  were  changed  from  time  to  time  so 
as  to  keep  them  facing  the  sun.  This  practice  was  observed  by  a  number 
of  Plains  tribes.  However,  among  the  Dakota  the  tripod  often  gave  place 
to  a  single  pole. 


GHOST-DANCE   DESIGNS. 

About  the  year  1890  a  religious  movement,  generally  known  as  the 
" ghost-dance  religion,"  infected  the  Plains  Indians.  _The  chief  feature  of 
this  religion  was  the  belief  in  a  speedy  return  of  the  old  time,  the  buffalo, 
and  the  extermination  of  the  white  race.  The  different  tribes  had  various 
ideas  of  their  duties  with  respect  to  this  new  faith,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Dakota,  they  did  not  manifest  direct  hostility  to  the  white  race. 
This  warlike  people,  however,  were  already  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the 
treatment  they  received  from  the  Government  and  with  the  difficult  condi 
tions  under  which  they  lived.  In  consequence,  they  received  the  ghost- 
dance  religion  as  a  herald  of  the  good  time  which,  to  their  minds,  was  to 
be  secured  only  by  war  with  the  white  race.  While  a  great  many  of  the 
conditions  in  the  immediate  environment  of  the  Dakota  have  been  given 
by  various  writers  as  causes  for  the  outbreak,  the  fact  that  these  Indians 
interpreted  the  new  religion  as  the  manifestation  of  a  warlike  spirit  was 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  at  heart  a  warlike  people.  Their 
ideas  still  run  toward  military  things.  As  the  essential  idea  of  the  ghost- 
dance  religion  was  a  return  of  the  old  time,  the  ceremonies  pertaining 
thereto  made  use  of  the  typical  objects  and  ideas  of  the  past.  In  this,  of 
course,  they  were  not  entirely  consistent,  since  they  did  not  discard  the  use 
of  fire-arms,  and  did  not  actually  resurrect  bows,  arrows,  and  shields.  [  Yet, 
as  a  substitute  for  the  protective  power  of  the  shield,  they  introduced  gar 
ments  bearing  protective  designs.  These  garments  are  generally  known 
under  the  name  of  "ghost-shirts,"  and  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak  were 
spoken  of  by  white  people  as  ''bullet-proof  shirts."  The  following  are 
descriptions  of  these  garments  by  eye-witnesses  at  "the  time  of  their  first 
appearance :  — 

"All  the  men  and  women  made  holy  shirts  and  dresses  they  wear  in  dance. 
The  persons  dropped  in  dance  would  all  lie  in  great  dust  the  dancing  make.  They 
paint  the  white  muslins  they  made  holy  dresses  and  shirts  out  of  with  blue  across 
the  back,  and  alongside  of  this  is  a  line  of  yellow  paint.  They  also  paint  in  the  front 
part  of  the  shirts  and  dresses.  A  picture  of  an  eagle  is  made  on  the  back  of  all  the 


32 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol. 


shirts  and  dresses.  On  the  shoulders  and  on  the  sleeves  they  tied  eagle-feathers. 
They  said  that  the  bullets  will  not  go  through  these  shirts  and  dresses,  so  they  all 
have  these  dresses  for  war.  Their  enemies'  weapon  will  not  go  through  these  dresses. 
The  ghost-dancers  all  have  to  wear  eagle-feather  on  head."  L 

"I  think  they  wore  the  ghost-shirt  or  ghost-dress  for  the  first  time  that  day. 
I  noticed  that  these  were  all  new,  and  were  worn  by  about  seventy  men  and  forty 


Fig.  10  (50-3053).     Front  of  a  Ghost-dance  Garment.     Length,  126  cm. 

women.  The  wife  of  a  man  called  Return-from-scout  had  seen  in  a  vision  that  her 
friends  all  wore  a  similar  robe,  and  on  reviving  from  her  trance  she  called  the  women 
together,  and  they  made  a  great  number  of  the  sacred  garments.  They  were  of 
white  cotton  cloth.  The  women's  dress  was  cut  like  their  ordinary  dress,  a  loose 
robe  with  wide,  flowing  sleeves,  painted  blue  in  the  neck,  in  the  shape  of  a  three- 
cornered  handkerchief,  with  moon,  stars,  birds,  etc.,  interspersed  with  real  feathers, 
painted  on  the  waist  and  sleeves. 


1  George  Sword,  on   Ghost-dance  Religion  (Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  p.  798). 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota. 


"The  ghost-shirt  for  the  men  was  made  of  the  same  material  —  shirts  and 
leggings  painted  in  red.  Some  of  the  leggings  were  painted  in  stripes  running  up 
and  down,  others  running  around.  The  shirt  was  painted  blue  around  the  neck, 
and  the  whole  garment  was  fantastically  sprinkled  with  figures  of  birds,  bows  and 
arrows,  sun.  moon,  and  stars,  and  everything  they  saw  in  nature.  Down  the  out 
side  of  the  sleeve  were  rows  of  feathers  tied  by  the  quill-ends  and  left  to  fly  in  the 


Fig.  11  (50-3053).     Back  of  Garment  shown  in  Fig.  10. 

breeze,  and  also  a  row  around  the  neck  and  up  and  down  outside  of  the  leggings. 
I  noticed  that  a  number  had  stuffed  birds,  squirrel-heads,  etc.,  tied  in  their  long^ 
hair.     The  faces  of  all  were  painted  red  with  a  black  half-moon  on  the  forehead 
on  one  cheek."  ] 

As  is  noted  by  the  above,   designs  on  these  garments  were  made  by_ 
individuals  who  had  dreams  or  other  unusual  experiences  similar  to  those. 


i  Mrs.  Z.  A.  Parker  (Fourteenth  Annual   Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
p.  916). 


34  Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 

of  the  medicine-men ;  and  it  would  seem  from  this  account  that  the  designs 
and  objects  used  in  the  dance  were  in  every  way  similar  to  those  employed 
before  the  ghost-dance  religion  appeared.  The  writer  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  several  individuals  who  had  prepared  such  garments  at  the  time  of 
the  ghost-dance,  and  from  them  he  secured  reproductions  with  explanations 
as  to  the  significance  of  the  designs.  As  some  time  had  elapsed  since  the 
ghost-dance  religion  was  at  the  height  of  its  popularity,  it  is  possible  that 
the  more  special  features  belonging  to  it  were  forgotten  by  these  men,  and 
that  they  worked  into  the  reproduced  garments  older  and  more  conserva 
tive  ideas.  However,  the  writer  is  of  the  opinion,  and  he  took  special 
pains  to  investigate  as  best  he  could,  that  whatever  may  have  been  lost  in 
this  way  made  no  important  changes  in  either  the  objective  character  of 
the  designs  or  in  the  ideas  expressed  by  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
ghost-dance  in  some  of  its  milder  forms  is  still  observed. 

Some  garments  secured  by  the  writer  are  decorated  on  both  front  and 
back  with  designs  chiefly  pictographic.  On  the  front  of  one  (Fig.  10)  is 
a  large  triangular  space  extending  downward  from  the  shoulders  (one  half 
of  which  is  in  red  and  the  other  half  in  blue),  thickly  dotted  over  with  white 
spots  representing  hailstones.  The  red  represents  the  morning;  and  the 
blue,  the  night.  Extending  across  from  side  to  side  is  a  large  arched  figure 
made  up  of  red,  yellow,  white,  and  green  bands,  representing  the  rainbow. 
Above  this  are  two  four-pointed  stars,  the  red  for  the  morning  star  and  the 
black  for  the  stars  seen  in  the  night.  There  is  a  large  green  star  with  eight 
points  on  the  dividing-line  between  day  and  night,  concerning  which  I 
secured  no  satisfactory  explanation.  At  the  apex  of  the  triangular  space 
are  small  dots  of  yellow,  representing  the  dawn;  and  the  sun  is  placed  on 
each  side  of  the  division  between  day  and  night.  The  new  moon  is  repre 
sented  by  a  black  crescent.  On  the  morning-side  of  this  design  is  the  pic 
ture  of  a  butterfly;  while  on  the  night-side,  extending  over  into  the  morning, 
is  a  picture  of  a  peculiar  figure,  which  the  artist  regarded  as  a  spirit-bird 
or  man-bird,  as  he  expressed  it,  with  the  medicine-hoop  in  his  hand.  The 
other  portion  of  the  dress  is  covered  over  with  small  dots  in  various  colors, 
representing  bullets.  There  are  also  pictures  of  butterflies,  stars,  and 
buffalo-tracks.  On  one  side  are  two  parallel  wavy  red  lines,  and  on  the 
other  two  in  green,  representing  the  lightning. 

On  the  other  side  of  this  garment,  or  the  back  (Fig.  11),  is  the  repre 
sentation  of  a  bird,  which  seems  to  be  mythical  rather  than  realistic.  The 
background  upon  which  the  figure  rests  is  dotted  to  represent  bullets  or  hail, 
as  both  have  the  same  significance.  The  lower  part  of  the  garment  is  the 
most  interesting.  Here  we  have  four  buffalo-tracks  arranged  in  rectangular 
relation  to  represent  buffalo,  and  a  circle  or  medicine-hoop  (half  of  which 


1907.]  Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  35 

is  red  and  half  green)  with  extending  lines  of  the  same  colors,  representing 
the  thunder,  or  its  power.  The  idea  of  this  association  of  the  hoop,  or,  as 
it  is  sometimes  spoken  of,  the  mirror,  is  that  this  buffalo  escapes  bullets, 
or  perhaps  is  immortal.  Below  the  sign  of  the  buffalo  is  a  four-pointed 
figure,  usually  known  as  the  spider-web  design,  representing  the  heavens; 
and  below  this  is  the  rainbow.  Two  swallows  are  represented  connected 
to  the  points  in  the  spider-web  design  by  lines,  indicating  that  they  enjoy 
the  protection  of  this  power,  making  them  difficult  to  hit  with  bullets  or 
other  missiles. 

On  another  garment  (Fig.  12),  the  triangular  area  at  the  top  is  entirely 
in  red,  covered  with  white  spots  representing  hail,  and  bordered  with  wavy 
lines  representing  the  rainbow.  This  represents  the  rainbow  in  the  sky. 
The  dark  crescent  represents  the  moon.  Below  is  a  large  four-pointed 
star  in  black,  representing  the  night,  with  a  line  extending  over  each  side, 
representing  the  clouds.  The  small  disk  in  red  represents  a  bullet;  and 
the  small  green  crescent,  the  moon.  Below  these  is  the  spider-web  design, 
representing  the  heavens,  over  the  four  corners  of  which  the  lightning 
appears;  but  in  this  case  the  design  is  covered  with  dots  representing  the 
falling  of  the  stars.  Near  this  design  we  find  the  butterfly  and  the  buffalo- 
tracks.  The  remaining  space  on  the  whole  garment  is  covered  with  patches 
of  color,  representing  the  hail.  On  the  opposite  side  (Fig.  13)  are  pecul 
iar  triangular  designs,  the  background  of  which  is  in  red  bordered  by 
straight  lines,  suggesting  the  rainbow;  while  on  the  red  background  are 
placed  the  design  of  the  moon  and  two  circles  in  such  relation  as  to  suggest 
a  face.  This  design  was  spoken  of  as  the  "moon-face;"  but  this  seems  to 
have  been  an  after-interpretation,  since  the  artist  wished  to  represent  the 
medicine-hoop  or  mirror  in  the  sky.  [It  seems  likely  that  this  is  simply 
an  adaptation  of  a  head-dress  used  in  the  elk  ceremony.]  Below  this  we 
have  a  combination  which  appears  to  be  the  spider-web  design  combined 
with  the  figure  of  a  bird,  which  is  said  to  be  the  dream-figure,  representing 
the  bird  seen  on  a  tree.  Below  this  we  have  the  moon,  rainbow,  tracks 
of  the  buffalo,  stars,  butterfly,  and  a  mounted  warrior  riding  through  the 
hail. 

In  Fig.  14,  the  triangular  space  at  the  top  is  similar  to  that  on  the  pre 
ceding  garment,  and  need  not  be  described  here.  The  body  of  the  dress 
is  covered  with  dragon-flies  as  they  appear  when  flying  over  water.  The 
stars  represent  reflections  in  the  water;  and  the  dashes  of  color,  the  hail. 
The  wavy  green  lines  extending  down  the  full  length  of  the  garment  repre 
sent  the  lightning.  In  this  case  the  red  at  the  top  is  spoken  of  as  the  thun 
der-cloud.  On  the  opposite  side  (Fig.  15),  the  triangular  area  with  its 
tail-like  extension  represents  the  rattlesnake.  In  addition  we  have  tracks  of 


36 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  Ir 


the  buft'alo  dragon-fly,  and  butterfly,  all  associated  as  in  nature.      Upon  the 
sides  of  this  garment  are  the  designs  of  the  lizard,  swallow,  and  turtle. 

The  above  detailed  statements  concerning  the  designs  and  their  import 
do  not  convey  their  full  significance  as  it  was  brought  out  in  discussions 
between  the  writer  and  the  men  who  made  these  garments.  In  the  first 


Fig.  12  (50-3054).     Designs  on  the  Front  of  Ghost-dance  Garment.     Length,  128  cm. 

place  we  find  on  them  symbols  to  be  described  in  another  section  of  this 
paper;  namely,  the  spider- wTeb  designs  and  the  medicine-hoop.  It  will  be 
seen  that  in  most  cases  the  living  creatures  represented  are  those  that  seem 
to  have  power  to  escape  the  hailstones,  because,  as  they  say,  no  matter  how 
severe  the  hailstorm  may  be,  no  one  observes  their  dead  or  maimed  upon 
the  ground:  therefore  they  assume  that  these  creatures  possess  some 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  o/  the  Dakota. 


37 


extraordinary  power,  or  receive  the  attention  of  some  protective  power. 
The  bird  represented  does  not  seem  to  be  the  thunder-bird,  as  is  usually 
the  case  in  Dakota  art,  but  such  species,  usually  birds  of  prey,  as  soar 
above  the  destructive  range  of  the  hail.  The  lizard  and  the  turtle  are 
spoken  of  as  animals  of  great  power,  since  they  are  killed  with  great  dif 
ficulty,  from  which  it  follows  that  they  also  enjoy  the  protection  of  some 


Fig.  13  (50-3054).     Designs  on  the  Back  of  Garment  shown  in  Fig.  12. 

power,  i  This  we  may  generalize  by  saying  that  the  Indian  placed  upon 
these  garments  representations  of  living  creatures  that,  according  to  his 
observation  and  experience,  were  seldom  hit  by  missiles,  or  that  possessed 
great  vitality,  making  it  difficult  to  kill  them?  Placed  on  the  garments, 
they  express  a  prayer,  a  hope,  or  an  actual  realization,  on  the  part  of  the 
wearer,  of  the  protective  power  by  which  these  creatures  are  enabled  to 
survive. 


38 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


The  triangular  designs  at  the  top  of  these  garments  were  spoken  of  as 
shields,  the  idea  being  that  they  were  in  some  measure  shield-designs,  and 
performed  the  same  function  as  did  those  upon  shields  in  former  times. 
Mr.  Mooney  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  protective  designs  on  garments 
used  in  the  ghost-dance  religion  were  not  aboriginal  with  the  Indian. 


Fig.  14  (50-3055).    Front  of  a  Ghost-dance  Garment  bearing  Dragon-fly  Design. 
Length,  125  cm. 

"The  protective  idea  in  connection  with  the  ghost-shirt  does  not  seem  to  be 
aboriginal.  The  Indian  warrior  habitually  went  into  battle  naked  above  the  waist. 
His  protecting  'medicine'  was  a  feather,  a  tiny  bag  of  some  sacred  powder,  the 
claw  of  an  animal,  the  head  of  a  bird,  or  some  other  small  object  which  could  be 
readily  twisted  into  his  hair  or  hidden  between  the  covers  of  his  shield,  without 
attracting  attention.  Its  virtue  depended  entirely  on  the  ceremony  of  the  conse 
cration,  and  not  on  size  or  texture.  The  war-paint  had  the  same  magic  power  of 
protection.  To  cover  the  body  in  battle  was  not  in  accordance  with  Indian  usage, 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota. 


39 


which  demanded  that  the  warrior  should  be  as  free  and  unincumbered  in  movement 
as  possible.  The  so-called  '  war-shirt '  was  worn  chiefly  in  ceremonial  dress-parades, 
and  only  rarely  on  the  war-path."  x 

This  ^  statement,  however,  suggests  that  Mr.  Mooney  based  his  opinion 
upon  objective  evidence,  while  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  writer  is  based 


Fig.  15  (50-3055).     Back  of  Garment  shown  in  Fig.  14. 

upon  subjective  evidence.  A  comparison  of  the  interpretations  of  shield- 
designs  and  ghost-dress  designs  seems  to  leave  little  opportunity  for  any 
other  conclusion  than  that  the  protective  designs  used  in  the  ghost-dance 
were  essentially  the  same  as  those  used  in  former  times  upon  shields  and 
other  objects.  The  garments  may  be  foreign;  but  the  idea  of  protective 

1  Mooney  (Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.  790). 


40  Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 

designs  is  most  certainly  not  peculiar  to  the  ghost-dance  religion,  since  it 
was  widely  distributed  among.  American  tribes,  and  associated  with  cere 
monial  objects  that  were  in  use  at  least  a  century  before  the  ghost-dance 
religion  appeared. 

If  the  writer  had  no  other  information  at  hand  than  that  furnished  by 
Mr.  Mooney  in  his  comprehensive  study  of  the  ghost-dance  religion,  he 
would  be  inclined  to  regard  the  whole  as  the  manifestation  of  aboriginal 
religious  ideas  in  response  to  a  single  foreign  conception;  namely,  that  of 
the  coming  of  a  messiah  and  the  destruction  of  the  present  order  of  the 
world.  The  way  in  which  the  ghost-dance  ceremonies  were  performed, 
the  ideas  expressed  in  the  songs,  the  things  the  priests  dreamed  of,  and 
the  objects  used  in  the  ceremonies,  are  so  characteristically  Indian,  that 
no  other  interpretation  seems  possible.  However,  in  the  present  connec 
tion  we  are  concerned  with  these  designs  as  types  of  the  universal  primitive 
expression  of  belief  in  the  presence  of  a  guiding  personal  agency  that  looks 
into  the  affairs  of  men. 

THE  HOOP. 

The  circle,  or  more  properly  the  hoop,  is  a  very  important  religious 
symbol  among  the  Dakota.  One  form  of  it  appears  in  the  great  hoop- 
game  described  by  Louis  Meeker,1  and  later  by  Dr.  J.  R.  Walker.2  This 
hoop  is  usually  about  two  feet  in  diameter,  and  notched  so  as  to  divide 
the  circumference  into  quadrants.  While  this  hoop-game  seems  to  be  a 
true  gambling  game,  it  could  be  and  was  sometimes  played  as  part  of  a 
ritualistic  ceremony  the  object  of  which  was  to  bring  the  buffalo.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  this  large  hoop  is  similar  to  the  sacred  wheel  used 
by  the  Arapaho  in  the  sun-dance.  At  the  time  of  the  ghost-dance  out 
break  among  the  Dakota  of  Pine  Ridge  Reservation,  Mr.  Mooney  saw 
the  hoop  and  the  two  pairs  of  sticks  used  with  it  carried  in  the  ceremonies 
connected  with  the  ghost-dance  religion.  He  states:  — 

"It  is  said  that  the  medicine-man  of  Big  Foot's  band  carried  such  a  hoop 
with  him  in  their  flight  from  the  north,  and  displayed  it  in  every  dance  held  by 
the  band  until  the  fatal  day  of  Wounded  Knee.  A  similar  hoop  was  carried  and 
hung  upon  the  centre  tree  at  the  dance  at  No  Water's  camp  near  Pine  Ridge.  To 
the  Indian  it  symbolizes  the  revival  of  the  old-time  games."  3 

The  last  line  of  the  above  quotation  implies  that  the  hoop  was  a  part 
of  the  paraphernalia  used  in  the  ghost-dance  ceremonies,  because  it  sym- 

1  Meeker  (Bulletin  of  the  Free  Museum  of  Science  and  Art,  University  of  Pennsylvania 
Vol.  Ill,  No.  1). 

-   Walker  (The  Journal  of  the  American  Folk- Lore  Society,  October-December,  1905). 
a  Mooney  (Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.  1075). 


1907.]  Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  o/  the  Dakota.  41 

bolized  the  ancient  games.     On  another  page  of  the  same  article  occurs 
the  following:  — 

"As  it  was  the  favorite  game  with  the  men  in  the  olden  times,  a  great  many 
of  the  songs  founded  on  these  trance  visions  refer  to  it,  and  the  wheel  and  sticks 
are  made  by  the  dreamer,  and  carried  in  the  dance  as  they  sing."  * 

It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  game  was  formerly  played 
to  restore  the  buffalo  when  they  were  temporarily  absent  from  their  range; 
and,  as  one  of  the  great  objects  of  the  ghost-dance  religion  was  the  return 
of  the  buffalo  as  in  the  olden  times,  the  reason  for  the  use  of  the  hoop  in 
the  ceremonies  described  by  Mooney  is  apparent.  In  Mooney's  account, 
a  number  of  songs  pertaining  to  the  hoop-game  are  given  as  sung  by  the 
various  tribes  practising  the  ghost-dance  religion.  Among  these  is  a  Dakota 
version,  as  follows:  — 

"The  holy  (hoop)  shall  run,  "Come  and  see  it. 

The  holy  (hoop)  shall  run.  Come  and  see  it, 
The  swift  hoop  shall  run,  Says  the  father, 

The  swift  hoop  shall  run.  Says  the  father."  - 

A  mythical  account  of  the  hoop-game  is  given  by  Dr.  J.  R.  Walker,  which 
indicates  one  of  the  probable  conceptions  upon  which  this  religious  use 
of  the  hoop  rests.3 

The  hoop-symbol  occurs  in  graphic  form,  sometimes  upon  garments. 
The  writer  secured  a  shirt  that  was  used  by  one  of  the  leaders  in  ghost- 
^^_  dances;  and  which  seems  to  have  been  a  type  of  the 

f        ^  so-called    "bullet-proof   shirt."      This     garment    is 

I  J  daubed  with  red  about  the  neck  and  on  the  shoul- 

V^^-X  ders,  but  in  addition  bears  four  circular  designs,  also 

Fte  16(50-2964).    circ-u-      in  reci>  with  lar£e  ^^  at   their   centres  (Fig.  16). 
DiamftS!  ff?m?  S1  One  of  these  designs  is  placed  upon  the  right  breast; 

another,  directly  opposite,  upon  the  back  of  the  gar 
ment;  one  upon  the  right  shoulder;  and  one  upon  the  left.  These  arc  so 
arranged,  that,  no  matter  from  what  point  you  see  the  wearer,  one  of  the 
circular  designs  will  be  visible.  These  designs  were  recognized  as  symbols  of 
the  medicine-hoop,  and  were  supposed  to  have  the  power  to  protect  the  wearer 
from  all  harm.  The  idea  of  placing  the  designs  so  that  one  of  them  should 
always  be  between  the  wearer  and  the  source  of  danger  may  be  original 
with  the  owner  of  this  shirt;  but  the  number  of  them  (four),  and  their 
arrangement  according  to  the  four  directions,  correspond  to  the  common 
explanation  of  religious  symbols. 


1  Mooney  (Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.  994). 

2  Mooney  (Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.  1075). 

3  Walker  (The  Journal  of  the  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  October-December,  1905). 


42 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.         [Vol. 


Meeker  describes  1  a  wheel-shaped  hoop-ornament  consisting  of  a  ring 
enclosing  four  spokes  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  According  to  his  ac 
count,  this  is  a  symbol  associated  with  the  hoop-game ;  but  similar  speci 
mens  were  seen  by  the  writer  upon  the  heads  of  Dakota  men,  who 
explained  that  these  were  symbols  of  the  medicine-wheel  or  medicine- 
hoop,  and  did  not  refer  to  the  hoop-game.  They  were  worn  because  they 
were  regarded  as  symbols  of  the  power  that  could  protect  the  wearer  from 
arrows,  bullets,  or  other  dangers. 

As  is  suggested  by  the  above,  the  game-hoop  is  distinguished  from  the 
medicine-hoop  as  used  in  ceremonies.  A  medicine-hoop  seems  to  have 
been  used  by  all  divisions  of  the  Dakota,  and,  according  to  the  descriptions 

received  by  the  writer,  to  have  been  of 
several  forms.  In  certain  ceremonies 
where  the  elk  played  an  important  part, 
a  hoop  or  ring  was  formed  by  twining 
together  fresh  twigs  and  leaves  of  the 
willow.  In  the  centre  of  this  hoop,  a 
small  mirror  was  held  by  four  cords  ar 
ranged  at  right  angles,  and  representing 
the  four  directions.  A  drawing  of  an  elk- 
dancer  by  a  native  is  shown  in  Fig.  17. 
The  painted  centre  for  the  circular  de 
signs  on  a  shirt  (Fig.  16)  described  above, 
as  well  as  the  small  wheel-shaped  head- 
ornament,  were  said  to  represent  a  hoop 
of  this  type. 

The  connection  of  this  hoop  with  the 
idea  of  protection  is  well  illustrated  in 
the  manufacture  of  one  kind  of  red  paint. 
It  is  produced  by  burning  a  kind  of  yel 
low  clay,  found  near  the  Black  Hillsr 
until  it  takes  on  the  red  color.  The 
paint,  however,  is  given  its  protective 
power  by  certain  ceremonies  performed 
as  it  is  made.  In  the  particular  cere 
mony  observed  by  the  writer,  the  yellow 
earth  was  pounded  fine,  and  mixed  with 
water  until  it  became  a  stiff  paste.  This 

was  then  made  into  a  flat  disk  about  half  an  inch  thick  and  from  four  to 
six  inches  in  diameter,  after  which  a  hole  or  depression  was  made  in  the 


Fig.  17.  Sketch,  by  a  Native,  of  an  Elk- 
mystery  Dancer  carrying  a  Hoop  with 
a  Mirror  in  the  Centre. 
lected  by  It.  Cronau. 


Drawing  col- 


1  Meeker,  op.  cit.,  p.  35. 


1907.]  Wisskr,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  43 

centre.  The  purpose  of  this,  as  explained,  was  to  give  it  the  form  of  a 
medicine-hoop,  the  hole  in  the  centre  corresponding  to  the  place  occupied 
by  the  mirror  in  the  form  of  hoop  just  described.  This  disk  was  then 
burned  in  the  fire  until  red,  after  wThich  it  was  pounded  on  a  stone  until 
fine  enough  for  use.  The  ceremony  in  preparing  the  paint  consisted  of 
ritualistic  songs  and  prayers,  which  reached  their  climax  as  the  disk  of  clay 
was  formed  and  perforated.  The  burning  and  the  subsequent  preparation 
were  not  regarded  as  parts  of  the  ceremony.  The  idea,  as  expressed,  was 
to  connect  the  paint  with  the  power  represented  by  the  hoop,  so  that  when 
a  wrarrior  rubbed  some  of  it  upon  his  body,  he  came  at  once  under  the 
protection  of  this  power. 

Another  idea  seems  to  be  connected  with  the  conception  of  the  medicine- 
hoop,  and  that  is  the  appearance  of  certain  mythical  animals  with  openings 
through  their  bodies  where  their  hearts  should  be.  The  conception  seems 
to  be,  that  an  animal  without  a  heart  is  immortal  and  supernatural:  at 
least,  this  is  the  way  in  which  the  mythical  elk  was  described.  According 
to  the  belief,  there  is  a  connection  between  this  opening  through  the  heart 
and  the  centre  of  the  medicine-hoop,  represented  in  the  elk  ceremonies  by 
the  mirror;  but  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that  this  is  an  error  on  the 
part  of  the  Indians  themselves  in  associating  two  things  that  were  formerly 
distinct.1 

It  seems  rather  curious  that  the  mirror  should  become  so  closely  asso 
ciated  with  the  hoop,  and  that  the  mirror  should  have  appealed  to  them 
as  a  symbol  of  almost  equal  importance.  The  writer  is  of  the  opinion  that 
the  preceding  cases,  where  the  mirror  and  the  hoop  are  considered  as  iden 
tical  symbols,  are  the  result  of  a  former  close  association  of  the  two  in  cere 
monial  affairs. 


THE   WHIRLWIND. 

In  another  place  the  writer  has  described  the  conception  of  the  power 
of  the  whirlwind  among  some  of  the  Dakota,  but  wishes  at  this  time  to 
refer  to  it  again  because  of  its  relation  to  their  system  of  protective  designs.2 
As  stated  in  the  former  publication,  there  seems  to  be  in  the  minds  of  some 
of  the  Dakota  an  association  between  the  phenomenon  of  the  whirlwind 

1  In  the  Report  of  the  Peabocly  Museum  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  286)  is  a  description  by  Miss  Fletcher 
of  some  ceremonies  in  which  the  hoop  and  the  mirror  played  a  part.     "  The  neophyte  held  one, 
having  a  circular  mirror,  fastened  by  four  cords,  from  which  he  cast  a  reflection  of  the  sun  from 
time  to  time  upon  the  ground,  or  held  up  the  hoop,  and  flashed  the  mirror."     The  explanation 
given  by  this  author  of  the  significance  of  the  mirror  in  these  ceremonies  differs  from  that 
secured  by  the  writer;  but  Miss  Fletcher's  account  seems  to  refer  to  a  form  of  ceremony  per 
taining  to  the  elk  rites  not  mentioned  in  his  notes. 

2  Wissler  (The  Journal  of  the  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  October-December,  1905). 


44 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


and  those  mental  states  general!}7  known  as  "confusion  of  mind."  Some 
of  them  believed  and  still  believe  that  the  power  in  the  whirlwind  can  be 
invoked  to  confuse  the  mind  of  an  enemy.  In  common  with  many  other 
American  tribes,  the  Dakota  believe  the  whirlwind  to  be  associated  with 
the  fluttering  wings  of  a  moth,  but  they  also  associate  this  with  the  cocoon 


Fig.  18  (50-2095).     Engraved  Metal  Cross.     Collected  by  R.  Cronau. 
Length,  23  cm. 


of  the  same  moth;  and  in  symbolic  representation  the  design  representing 
the  power  of  the  whirlwind  is  of  an  elongated  diamond-shape,  and  refers 
to  the  cocoon.  The  protection  or  aid  of  the  whirlwind  was  secured  by 
prayers,  and  these  prayers  were  symbolized  by  the  cocoon  worn  upon  the 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota. 


45 


person,  by  its  image  in  stuffed  buckskin,  or  by  its  graphic  representation, 
sketched  or  painted.  The  power  of  the  whirlwind  was  supposed  to  have 
been  associated  with  the  power  of  the  spider-web.  As  an  illustration  of 


Fig.  19  (50-2898).     Engraved  Bone  Object.    Collected  by  K.  Cronau. 
Length,  24  cm. 


this,  we  find  engraved  upon  a  German-silver  cross  (Fig.  18)  the  spider, 
and  near  it  three  representations  of  the  whirlwind  cocoon.  Between  the 
spider  and  these  three  designs  is  a  zigzag  line,  implying  the  mystic  power 
connection  of  the  same.  Again,  on  a  forked  bone  object  (Fig.  19),  the  use 


46  Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 

of  which  is  unknown,  occur  a  number  of  incised  designs,  among  which  is 
again  what  seems  to  be  the  spider-web,  the  tracks  of  a  quadruped  (probably 
the  buffalo),  and  four  designs  representing  the  whirlwind  cocoon,  accom 
panied  in  each  case  by  another  design  which  cannot  be  determined,  but 
which  resembles  the  footprints  of  a  person.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 


Fig  20.  Fig.  21. 

Fig.  20  (50-4380).     Whirlwind  Design,  from  the  Handle  of  a  Club.     Length,  5  cm. 
Fig.  21  (50-4244).      Whirlwind  Design,  from  a  Popgun.     Length  of  design,  7.5  cm. 

the  German-silver  cross  also  bears  the  tracks  of  the  buffalo,  or  some  rumi 
nant  animal,  in  association  with  the  spider.  In  the  absence  of  direct  in 
formation,  the  writer  hesitates  to  offer  any  interpretation  of  the  design  upon 
these  specimens,  although  he  feels  that  they  could  be  interpreted  with 
reasonable  certainty. 

The  design  of  the  whirlwind  resembles  a  feather-design,  and  no  doubt 
the  two  are  often  confused.  The  difference  seems  to  be,  that,  when  repre 
senting  the  whirlwind,  half  of  the  design  is  filled  \vith  parallel  or  crossing 
lines;  while,  when  representing  feathers,  half  of  the  design  is  filled  in  with 
color  (see  Fig.  19).  The  feather-design  is  more  fixed  in  form  than  that  of 
the  whirlwind.  Fig.  20  is  a  representation  of  the  latter,  from  the  handle  of  a 
club,  where  it  appears  in  a  series  with  the  spider,  lizard,  elk,  and  turtle. 
Another  form  of  the  same  design  is  repeated  in  a  series  on  a  wooden  pop 
gun  (Fig.  21). 


THE  THUNDER. 

The  thunder  is  a  very  important  deity  among  all  the  Indians  of  the 
Plains,  and  is  usually  associated  with  military  exploits.  While  the  Dakota 
generally  regard  the  thunder  as  a  bird,  usually  symbolized  by  the  eagle, 
yet  they  sometimes  speak  of  it  as  a  horse,  a  man,  or  a  dog.  The  horse 
always  appealed  to  them  as  a  creature  of  mysterious  origin,  and  in  many 
cases  was  assumed  to  have  been  given  by  the  thunder.  In  any  event  there 
is  an  association  in  their  minds  between  the  power  of  a  war-horse  and  the 
thunder.  The  thunder  is  often  represented  by  a  zigzag  or  wavy  line,  usually 
in  red;  but  this  symbol  really  represents  the  power  of  the  phenomenon  in 
the  abstract,  because  the  Indian  does  have  the  conception  of  a  force  in 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota. 


47 


nature.  Consequently  this  graphic  symbol  is  also  a  general  sign  for  the 
presence  of  mysterious  supernatural  power.  The  whistles  made  from  the 
leg  and  wing  bones  of  eagles,  and  used  among  the  Plains  tribes,  are  gener 
ally  employed  by  the  Dakota  to  symbolize  the  cry  of  the  eagle  as  a  repre 
sentative  of  the  thunder-bird.  In  battle,  or  sometimes  in  stress  of  great 
trial,  they  are  sounded  to  call  up  the 
power  of  the  thunder  to  rescue  the 
unfortunate  one.  As  a  rule,  a  zig 
zag  line  is  scratched  down  the  sides 
of  these  whistles.  In  this  connec 
tion  it  is  interesting  to  note  the 
following :  — 

"  Before  daylight  I  set  off  with  five 
Indians.  .  .  .  This  caused  a  halt,  as  we 
were  surrounded  and  began  to  suspect 
that  the  enemy  had  planned  to  cut  us 
off.  The  Indians  put  on  their  war- 
caps,  uttering  some  few  words  which  I 
could  not  hear  distinctly,  and  then  be 
gan  to  whistle  with  a  small  bone  instru 
ment  which  they  hung  around  their 
necks  for  that  purpose."  1 

This  account  (1807)  by  an  acute 
observer  is  interesting,  because  our 
present  knowledge  enables  us  to 
understand  the  muttered  prayers 
and  the  use  of  the  whistle. 

The  whistle  shown  in  Fig.  22  is 
interesting  because  of  the  objects 
that  accompany  it.  The  whistle  is 
from  the  wing-bone  of  an  eagle,  and 
near  the  top  is  a  small  bag  contain 
ing  the  medicine  of  the  owner. 
The  feathers  of  the  yellow-winged 
woodpecker  are  attached  thereto, 
because  this  bird  is  considered  as 
an  associate  of  the  thunder-bird, 
or  at  least  it  holds  some  relation 
to  the  thunder,  since  the  Dakota 
have  observed,  that,  when  a  storm  is  approaching,  this  bird  gives  a  peculiar 
shrill  call  not  unlike  the  sound  of  the  whistle  spoken  of  above.  This  they 


Fig.  22  (50-3023).     Whistle,  of  Bone. 
Length,  19  cm. 


1   New  Light  on  the  Early  History  of  the  Greater  Northwest,  p.  436. 


48  Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Xatural  History.        [Vol.  I, 

interpret  as  speaking  to  the  thunder.  Consequently,  the  feathers  of  this  bird, 
when  attached  to  the  whistle,  are  supposed  to  put  the  individual  also  in  a 
position  to  speak  to  the  thunder.  This  bird  has  a  large  dark  spot  on  the 
throat,  which  is  said  to  represent  the  moon  and  to  be  further  evidence  of 
the  sacred  character  of  the  bird.  Thus  we  have  a  combined  charm  repre 
senting  the  woodpecker  and  the  eagle,  —  two  birds  closely  associated  with 
the  thunder. 

The  ceremony  of  offering  a  filled  pipe  to  the  thunder  was  frequently 
observed  by  the  Dakota.  One  man  stated  that  once,  when  the  camp  was 
threatened  by  an  approaching  storm,  he  filled  a  large  pipe,  went  to  the  top 
of  a  hill,  and,  facing  the  storm,  made  an  offering  to  the  thunder  by  extending 
the  stem  upward,  and  praying,  with  the  result  that  the  storm  divided,  and 
passed  around  the  camp  without  serious  damage  to  his  people.  In  the 
decoration  of  pipe-stems,  a  bunch  of  horsehair  is  attached  (usually  colored 
red),  and  this  is  often  spoken  of  as  an  emblem  of  the  thunder-horse.  This 
horsehair  is  to  signify  the  presence  of  the  power  of  the  thunder,  as  mani 
fest  in  the  horse,  in  all  ceremonies  connected  with  the  pipe.  It  is  worth 
while  noting  that  in  this  case  we  have  an  illustration  of  a  peculiarity  of 
religious  lore,  —  the  indirect  symbolizing  of  a  power  by  one  of  a  series  of 
objects  in  which  that  power  is  manifest. 

The  United  States  emblem  of  the  eagle  with  outstretched  claws,  holding 
arrows  and  the  lightning,  is  regarded  by  the  Dakota  as  an  appeal  on  our 
part  to  the  thunder-bird;  and  statements  to  the  contrary  are  usually  inter 
preted  as  white  men's  lies  to  deceive  the  Indians  and  to  guard  the  power. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  the  Dakota  manner  of  drawing  the  thunder-bird 
has  been  modified  by  the  United  States  emblem,  and  that  their  own  idea 
of  his  power  has  been  influenced  accordingly. 


THE   SPIDER. 

The  association  between  the  spider,  the  spider  web,  and  the  thunder, 
is  very  close  —  so  close,  that  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the  conception  of 
the  power  of  the  spider  without  considering  the  power  of  the  thunder.  The 
spider  is  often  spoken  of  as  the  "spider-man."  It  is  also  associated  with 
the  mythical  elk.  It  was  supposed  to  have  great  power.  The  observed 
fact  that  a  spider  manufactures  a  web,  and  that  this  web  is  not  destroyed 
by  bullets  or  arrows  (since  they  pass  through  it,  leaving  only  a  hole),  is 
cited  by  some  individuals  as  the  basis  for  the  conception  that  the  spider 
has  power  to  protect  people  from  harm.  On  the  other  hand,  the  spider  is 
spoken  of  as  a  friend  of  the  thunder;  and  it  is  a  general  belief  that  the 
thunder  will  never  harm  the  spider-web,  or,  what  amounts  to  the 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota. 


49 


that  the  spider-web  itself  is  a  protection  against  thunder.  As  previously 
stated,  the  spider-web  is  represented  by  a  peculiar  four-cornered  design. 
This  design  is  sometimes  said  to  represent  the  heavens,  in  which  case  the 
four  points  represent  the  four  directions,  the  home  of  the  winds,  the  four 
thunders,  etc.;  the  supernatural  character  of  the  design  being  indicated  by 
lightning-symbols  extending  from  the  four  corners. 

In  a  preceding  paper,1  the  spider-web  design  was  discussed  in  its  rela- 


Fig.  23  (50-3095).    Design  of  a  Spider-web. 


tion  to  decorative  art,  where  it  was  noted  that  among  some  divisions  of  the 
Dakota  is  a  belief  in  a  double  woman,2  to  whom,  among  other  things,  cer 
tain  ceremonial  uses  of  this  design  are  attributed.  According  to  informa 
tion  secured  by  the  writer,  this  character  was  also  associated  with  the  elk 
ceremonies,  where  she  wras  often  represented  by  twro  women  tied  together  by 


1  Wissler  (Bulletin  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Vol.  XVII,  p.  248). 

2  Dorsey    (Eleventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  480). 


50  Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 

a  cord  (about  two  feet  in  length),  from  the  middle  of  which  hung  a  doll  or 
a  ball.  Women  often  receive  power  by  dreaming  of  this  character.  Some 
such  women  are  supposed  to  perform  a  kind  of  ceremony,  somewhat  secret, 
in  which  a  child  is  taken  out  to  a  lonely  place,  where  a  swing  or  hammock- 
like  structure  is  made  in  the  form  of  the  spider-web  design,  supported  by 
the  four  corners,  and  the  child  is  placed  upon  it.  This  is  to  bring  good 
fortune  to  the  child.  A  design  of  the  spider-web  might  then  be  placed 
upon  the  robe  of  the  child  as  a  symbol  of  its  having  experienced  the  cere 
mony  (Fig.  23). 

The  men,  however,  use  this  design  for  military  protection,  in  which 
connection  it  is  not  thought  of  as  being  associated  in  any  way  with  the 
mythical  double  woman.  It  is,  however,  closely  associated  with  the  medi 
cine-bow.  This  was  a  very  sacred  military  object  with  the  Dakota,  of 
which  only  four  duplicates  could  be  had.  It  consisted  of  a  bow  of  plain 
wood,  of  the  usual  length,  to  the  end  of  which  was  attached  a  spear-head. 
Fastened  to  the  bow  was  a  stick  somewhat  longer,  sharpened  at  one  end, 
and  decorated  with  feathers  and  other  symbolic  objects.  The  purpose  of  the 
stick  was  to  support  the  bow,  since  all  such  sacred  objects  would  lose  their 
power  if  allowed  to  touch  the  ground.  The  bow  was  not  used  as  a  weapon, 
but  was  carried  as  a  standard,  because  of  its  supposed  magical  power  over 
the  enemy.  The  figure  of  the  dragon-fly  was  usually  painted  upon  the  bow 
and  its  support,  as  well  as  dots  representing  insects  that  fly  swiftly,  and 
zigzag  lines  representing  thunder.  Feathers  of  the  eagle,  the  magpie, 
the  hawk,  and,  in  fact,  of  all  birds  swift  of  wing,  were  likewise  attached  to 
it.  The  association  between  these  insects  and  birds  was  the  same  as  that 
previously  noted;  that  is,  since  they  were  swift  in  motion,  and  difficult 
to  strike,  they  represented  the  qualities  desired  by  the  bearers  of  the  bow. 
These  bows  have  long  since  passed  out  of  existence,  but  survive  in  models 
made  for  commercial  purposes. 

The  account  of  the  origin  of  the  medicine-bow  is  as  follows:  — 

"A  man  dreamed  of  the  thunder,  and  afterwards  called  in  four  men  to  assist 
"him  in  making  the  medicine-bow.  They  went  through  the  preliminaries  (the 
sweat-house,  etc.),  after  which  a  special  tent  wras  erected.  The  ground  inside  of 
this  tent,  where  the  dreamer  and  his  four  companions  sat,  was  covered  with  sage- 
grass.  A  young  man  was  called  in  to  act  as  their  assistant.  He  was  sent  out  to 
cut  elm  sticks.  He  went  out  slowly,  and  after  a  time  came  back  with  the  sticks. 
Then  he  was  sent  out  to  get  together  the  feathers  of  swift  flying  birds,  pieces  of 
buffalo-hide,  paints,  etc.  He  went  around  the  camp,  and  begged  these  of  the  people. 

"Then  the  four  men  set  to  work  making  the  sticks  under  the  direction  of  the 
dreamer.  The  dreamer  gave  a  bow  to  one  of  the  men,  and  a  piece  of  buffalo-hide 
in  which  to  wrap  the  sticks,  also  a  wooden  bowl  from  which  to  eat. 

"After  a  time,  the  faces  of  the  men  were  painted   red.     When  the  sticks  were 


1907.] 


Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota. 


51 


finished,  four  men  came  in  wrapped  in  buffalo-robes,  each  carrying  a  drum.  Now 
the  four  men  who  had  prepared  the  sticks  were  ready  to  receive  the  bow,  and  the 
drummers  began  to  drum  and  sing.  Then  the  man  who  dreamed  about  the  bow 
carried  it  outside  of  the  lodge,  pointing  it  toward  the  west.  He  was  followed  by 
the  whole  company,  and.  after  singing  a  song,  they  took  a  step  forward  and  pointed 
the  bow  to  the  north;  another  step  again,  then  pointed  to  the  east;  and  then  a 
step  forward,  pointing  to  the  south.  Then  they  ran  toward  the  west,  then  toward 
the  east,  then  toward  the  north,  and  then  toward  the  south.  [The  significance  of 
this  is,  that  the  thunder  resides  in  the  four  directions  of  the  heavens,  and  also  goes 
in  all  directions,  so  that  the  carrying  of  the  sticks  toward  the  various  points  of  the 
compass  puts  them  in  touch  with  the  thunder.]  Then  they  went  back  to  the  sweat- 
house,  and  the  ceremony  was  complete. 

"  The  man  who  owns  one  of  these  bows  must  not  wear  iron  on  his  person,  he 
must  never  give  his  food  to  any  one  else  after  eating  from  it  himself,  and  he  must 
never  allow  the  bow,  or  any  part  of  it,  to  touch  the  ground."  l 

The  owner  of  a  medicine-bow  should  have  a  buffalo-robe  with  special 
decorations,  consisting  of  a  spider-web  design  of  the  character  previously 
described,  from  the  corners  of  which  ex 
tend  wavy  lines  representing  the  thunder. 
Sometimes  the  picture  of  a  thunder-bird 
was  drawn  above  the  spider-web  design, 
or  a  few  tail-feathers  of  the  eagle  were 
attached  to  the  robe.  The  spider-web 
design  on  the  robe  of  an  owner  of  a 
medicine-bow  was  to  symbolize  the 
thunder,  for,  as  stated  by  the  inform 
ants,  the  spider  is  a  friend  of  the  medi 
cine-bow.  None  of  these  robes  are  now 
in  existence;  but  sketches  were  made  for 
the  writer,  one  of  which  is  reproduced  in 
Fig.  24. 

The  body-painting  for  the  medicine- 
bow  was  rather  elaborate.  In  the  first 
place,  the  whole  body  was  smeared  over 
with  a  brownish-red  paint,  representing 
the  earth  in  a  buffalo-wallow.  There 
were  two  ways  of  decorating  the  face. 
In  one,  a  curved  line  was  drawn,  extend 
ing  from  the  corners  of  the  mouth  around 
over  the  forehead,  the  ends  of  the  lines  being  forked  to  represent  lightning. 
Wavy  lines,  also  with  forked  ends,  were  drawn  down  the  arms  and  the  legs. 
These  lines  were  in  black  or  blue.  Blue  bands  were  painted  around  the 
ankles,  arms,  wrists,  and  shoulders,  representing  the  power  of  the  lightning. 


Fig.  24.     Sketch  of  a  Robe  for  the  Medi 
cine-bow  Owner.    Drawn  by  a  Native. 


1  Narrated  by  an  Ogalala  man. 


52 


Anthropological  Papers  American  Museum  of  Natural  History.        [Vol.  I, 


These  bands  were  often  covered  with  wristlets  and  anklets  of  rabbit-fur, 
because  the  rabbit  was  in  some  way  associated  with  the  medicine-bow.  In 
the  other  painting,  a  crescent,  representing  the  moon,  was  placed  upon  the 
forehead  and  a  line  drawn  from  ear  to  ear  across  the  bridge  of  the  nose. 
In  this  form,  the  body-painting  was  the  same  as  in  the  preceding,  except 
that  one  of  the  lines  upon  the  leg  was  straight  instead  of  wavy,  and  it  was 
said  to  signify  the  desire  for  ability  to  think  straight  or  to  possess  presence 
of  mind,  in  contrast  to  the  state  of  mind  supposed  to  be  produced  by  the 
power  of  the  whirlwind. 


Fig.  25 


Fig.  26. 


Fig.  25  (50-2093).    Design  on  a  Metal  Belt-ornament.     Width,  2  cm. 

Fig.  26  (50-3124).    Design  of  Spider-web  on  a  Straight  Pipe.     Length,  25  cm. 

The  spider-web  design  has  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  shield 
and  other  designs,  and  a  retrospect  indicates  a  peculiar  graphic  resem 
blance  in  it  to  the  older  type  of  star-designs  shown  in  Plate  vi.  The  writer 
uses  the  term  "older"  on  the  authority  of  two  Indians.  Some  incised 
designs  on  metal  ornaments  worn  by  a  woman,  of  the  form  shown  in 
Fig.  25,  seem  to  be  a  combination  of  the  older  star-design  and  that  of  the 
spider-web.  Another  design  (Fig.  26)  scratched  on  the  bowl  of  a  straight 
pipe  of  red  stone  was  also  said  to  represent  the  spider-web.  There  is 
another  design  used  by  the  Dakota 'in  ceremonies  relating  to  the  buffalo; 
but  it  is  rectangular  in  form  with  projecting  corners,  and  is  considered  a 
distinct  symbol. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  first  point  that  appears  in  the  consideration  of  these  designs  and 
their  interpretations  is  the  animistic  basis  upon  which  they  rest.  The 
Indian  has  observed  nature,  and  singled  out  those  qualities  and  situations 
that  are  not  only  wonderful  from  his  point  of  view,  but  greatly  to  be  desired 
as  means  to  his  own  ends.  He  then  proceeds  on  the  assumption  that  these 
originate  in  and  are  due  to  some  hidden  agency,  from  which  it  follows, 
that,  if  he  can  put  himself  in  the  place  of  one  of  the  favored  living  creatures, 
he  will  in  turn  be  the  object  upon  which  this  hidden  agency  will  act.  If 
he  can  be  the  bird  that  rides  the  storm  in  safety,  he  will  in  turn  ride  sue- 


1907  ]  Wissler,  Some  Protective  Designs  of  the  Dakota.  53 

cessfully  the  analogous  storms  of  his  own  sphere,  and,  like  the  child  that 
in  its  own  mind  is  the  policeman  when  it  thrusts  a  club  into  its  waistband, 
he  feels  that  he  is  the  bird  calling  to  the  thunder  when  he  sounds  the  bone 
whistle,  and  mutters  his  song-prayer.  That  this  is  true  only  of  the  great 
Indian  or  the  devotee,  speaking  in  relative  terms,  and  that  the  mass  of 
Indian-kind  follow  in  blind  imitation  of  the  more  sensitive  few,  may  be 
true;  but  the  phenomena,  for  all  that,  are  none  the  less  ethnic. 

One  characteristic  of  the  foregoing  protective  designs  is,  that  they  are 
usually  animal  motives  to  the  almost  entire  exclusion  of  plant  and  inani 
mate  forms.  While  it  is  true  that  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens  hold  a 
prominent  place  in  this  art,  such  phenomena  are  often  interpreted  as  results 
of  the  activity  of  animal-like  beings,  and  consequently  are  so  expressed  in 
art.  The  conditions  leading  to  such  a  result  are  doubtless  many  and  intri 
cate  ;  but  the  tendency  to  ignore  plant-forms  in  protective  conceptions  may 
be  due  to  the  inactive  character  of  the  more  inanimate  world.  Inert  things 
are  not  easily  conceived  of  as  guardians  or  protectors.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Indian  may  not  see  the  logical  necessity  of  carrying  his  view  to  the 
utmost  bounds  of  the  universe.  Pots  and  kettles  may  have  an  animistic 
presence  within  themselves;  but  perhaps  this  does  not  appeal  to  the  Indian, 
because  the  living  creatures  are  so  much  nearer  to  him  and  the  analogy 
between  their  lives  and  his  is  not  difficult  to  perceive.  The  mystery  in  the 
animal  forms  that  come  and  go,  in  the  storm,  and  in  the  heavenly  bodies, 
reaches  the  mind  unaided;  but  the  plant  and  mineral  wonders  require  a 
more  microscopic  eye.  That  there  was  a  time  when  the  animals  were  as 
the  people  is  the  striking  thought  in  many  Indian  myths,  and  this  indicates 
a  belief  in  the  fundamental  life-identity  of  all  moving  creatures. 

There  is,  however,  one  interesting  suggestion  in  the  interpretation  of 
protective  powers.  In  all  of  these  conceptions  we  find  less  appeal  for  the 
direct  destruction  of  enemies  than  for  a  shielding  protection  to  enable  the 
man  himself  to  be  the  destructive  agent.  His  prayers  are,  that  he  may  be 
swift  and  impossible  to  hit  in  order  that  he  may  strike  down  the  victim. 

Again,  there  are  in  every  part  of  the  preceding  paper  examples  of  the 
close  association  between  powers,  or  at  least  power-symbols,  that  are  from 
many  points  of  view  incongruous;  as  the  mirror  and  the  hoop,  the  spider, 
the  thunder,  and  the  elk.  There  is  in  these  a  tendency  to  coalesce  into 
conceptions  of  larger  wholes  in  which  the  power  becomes  more  general, 
tending  toward  the  definite  abstraction  of  a  power-unit,  or  identity  of 
forces  in  nature.  These  larger  conceptions,  that  are  really  much  more 
complex  than  indicated  in  this  brief  paper,  seem  to  represent  a  growth,  or 
at  least  an  accumulation  of  ideas,  on  the  part  of  a  people  who  have  not 
felt  the  need  of  systematically  unifying  them,  or  expressing  them  as  an 
objective  unit. 


AXTHROP.  PAP.  A.  M.  N.  H. 


Von.  I,  PLATE  V. 


MODEL  OF  A  SHIELD. 


ANTHKOP.  PAP.  A.  M.  \.  H. 


VOL.  I,  PLATK  VII. 


MODEL  OF  A  SHIELD. 


«l^N"*Si« 


